Factor In Food Production Impacts Of Climate Change

Long-Term Food Production
Must Factor In Potential Impacts Of Climate Change – UN
Official

Countries need to shift to more
sustainable food systems to adapt to the effects of climate
change, the Director-General of the United Nations Food and
Drug Organization (FAO) José Graziano da Silva told a
conference in Morocco today, warning that the phenomenon has
the potential to reshape the planet’s food production
scenario.

"Everything we do needs to take climate change
into consideration," Mr. da Silva stressed "and the time is
now. We cannot afford to wait."

In an address to the
seventh Forum on Agriculture in Menkes, Morocco, the
Director-General asserted that climate change has
reintroduced “an element of uncertainty” – after
decades in which hunger was mostly caused by the inability
to produce or purchase food, rather than insufficient
supplies globally.

"Climate change has the potential to
reconfigure the planet's food production scenario," Mr. da
Silva pressed.

The world's poorest are particularly
vulnerable. Mr. da Silva explained, that: "Not only do they
have fewer means to react, but they also tend to live in
already marginal production areas," where the impact of
climate change in agricultural production is felt to an even
greater extent.

FAO’s Director-General pointed to recent
findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
that reflected these concerns and called for urgent
action.

Noting that the United Nations had declared 2014
the International Year of Family Farming, Mr. da Silva also
underscored family farming as a tool for rural development
and stability.

"By providing adequate support to family
farming we can combat food insecurity by reaching out to a
group that is in itself vulnerable – and by increasing
food supply where we need it the most," he said.

He noted
that some 500 million family farms account for about 80 per
cent of the world's holdings, yet also include many of the
most vulnerable families globally.

“Climate change is a
challenge faced by both large, modernized family farms as
well as small-scale family farmers,” he
emphasized.

Family farmers make up an estimated 70 per
cent of all food insecure households in rural areas of
developing countries. Linking productive support to social
protection would help to jumpstart local and inclusive
sustainable development.

The Director-General, the Moroccan Ministers
of Agriculture and Marine Fisheries and of the Economy and
Finance signed an agreement to support food security
projects elsewhere in Africa through the FAO South-South
Cooperation programme as an innovative initiative to combine
Government and private sector
funds.

Nelson Mandela, then Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, raises his fist in the air while addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall. UN Photo/P. Sudhakaran More>>